Brownies from Girlguiding Cambridgeshire East spent the night “Sleeping under the wings” at Duxford Imperial War Museum on Saturday 15 October, making them the first group to ever sleepover at the museum.
Over 500 Brownies, aged 7-10 years and 100 leaders set up camp under Concorde, Hastings, Vulcan, Avro York, Lightning and TSR2 aircraft for the night. After learning some fascinating facts about Concorde and the Berlin Airlift as well as hearing about women aviators from Duxford’s own storyteller, they ended the evening with a classic campfire sing along before bed.
As well as the excitement of sleeping in the Airspace hangar, the Brownies worked on their Space and Aviation interest badges, with engineering paper aeroplanes, making peg bi-planes, space jars and space suits all on the agenda. They explored more of the Duxford museums on Sunday, visiting the American Air Museum, Battle of Britain and Land Warfare exhibitions.
Brownies is about trying new things that teach girls aged seven to ten about themselves, their community and their world. Inspirational events like “Sleeping under the wings” are organised by our volunteers to give girls exciting opportunities to do just that. With an action-packed programme of activities, Brownies learn new skills and take on challenges as they work out what they want to be and do in the future. After this experience, becoming an Aerospace engineer is sure to be on a few Brownie’s wish lists.
